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Cocktail stalwarts launch India Bartender Week
Three of the biggest names in India’s cocktail scene have announced the first edition of an event designed to “spotlight Indian talent on a global stage”.
India Bartender Week has been launched by Vikram Achanta, co-founder of 30BestBarsIndia, alongside Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, the co-founders of bars including Sidecar and Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy.
The week-long event will include workshops, panel discussions and masterclasses in a bid to create a unified platform to elevate India’s bar scene.
In a virtual launch event announcing the project, Singh noted that there is often “a lot of mystique about what is happening in India”. The event will therefore provide a platform for “spotlighting Indian talent on a global stage” to highlight the level of innovation in the country.
The concept behind India Bartender Week was first developed following a conversation with Hanna Lee and Michael Anstendig of New York Bartender Week. Gurgaon, a satellite city outside New Delhi, will host the first Bartender Week event happening outside New York, slated for 20-27 February 2025.
Co-founder Lama hopes the event will put a spotlight on India as a cocktail hub — “how diverse it is [and] what it has to offer to the world”.
His intention with the new venture is to “elevate our consumers and bring awareness and respect to the whole alcohol industry”.
India, which became the most populous country in the world in 2023, has the potential for huge success due in part to the sheer number of consumers. However, the country’s patchwork of different states, each one with its own laws on alcohol, poses challenges for the alcohol industry.
According to Singh, “the dream” for India Bartender Week is to host the event in different parts of the country in coming years. But the challenges posed by state-specific alcohol laws means Delhi poses the most freedoms for the event’s organisers.
Whether or not the event itself is Delhi-centric, Lama hopes that India Bartender Week will bring business to tier 2 and 3 cities. This, he says, is “where the industry is falling short in terms of talent and bringing in concepts”. Consumers in these cities are ready for new and exciting concepts, he argues, but bartenders are too focused on making a name for themselves in big cities.
The next five years will be “ours to grasp”, says third co-founder Vikram Achanta. He believes India is in a “transformative moment” when it comes to the cocktail scene — all it needs is “some catalysts to help take us to the next level”.
India Bartender Week’s three founders want to make their country the bartending hub for the surrounding area. Achanta says that to begin with, they intend to integrate Nepal and Sri Lanka into the event in order to secure India’s position as the cocktail flagship.
What to expect from India Bartender Week:
The India Bartender Week lineup includes Beverage Week (21–25 February 2025), where 20 of India’s top bars will participate in a week-long event, showcasing creativity through bespoke drinks crafted with local ingredients. Consumers can experience the best of India’s vibrant bar culture.
India Bar Summit (26–27 February 2025): A two-day gathering of industry leaders, bartenders, hoteliers, and influencers, featuring panel discussions, masterclasses, product showcases and afterparties.
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